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Philadelphia Man Convicted of Murder After Cold Case Resurrected

By Tony Hanson

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A 46-year-old Philadelphia man has been convicted and sentenced to life in prison for a 1998 drug murder, a conviction that came exactly 16 years to the day after the crime.

Defendant Raphael Stewart was arrested after the 1998 execution-style murder of Darris Cuthbert and the wounding of a second man.

But that second victim and an eyewitness could not be found for Stewart's initial trial, so the case was dropped in 1999.  Prosecutor Brett Furber says word on the street was the eyewitness was dead, although there was no proof and no death certificate.

But detective Joe Centeno kept working the case. He was out on the street looking for the witness -- looking for a dead man.

And his persistence paid off.

"Within a year of the case being nolle prossed (removed from prosecution), Det. Centeno was driving in that same area looking for him and, lo and behold, found him," Furber notes.  "And, as a result of finding him, we were able to refile the charges."

But Furber says defendant Stewart was gone by that time.  He wasn't located and arrested until last year.

Finally, on Tuesday, after the eyewitness and the other victim testified, Stewart was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

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